Apple's Force Touch trackpads haven't done a whole lot in official apps besides fast scrolling and shortcuts, but they'll do considerably more if you grab the latest version of GarageBand. As of the 10.1 update, you can use the pressure-sensitive pad on newer MacBooks and MacBook Pros to vary the strength of certain tools -- if you want to subtly finesse a track using only your finger, you can. This is also a big upgrade if you're an aspiring DJ, since there's both a virtual morph pad as well as gobs of new dance- and hip-hop-friendly audio kits. You can check out all of GarageBand's new tricks for free if you already have GarageBand (not hard if you bought a relatively modern Mac), and it'll cost $5 if you're completely new.

Several companies are working on eye-tracking tech as a way to navigate devices. A team of MIT researchers, however, have their eyes set on another body part: the thumbnail. Graduate students Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao and Artem Dementyev are developing a tiny trackpad that fits over your thumbnail. They're calling it NailO, and it was inspired by colorful nail stickers popular in Kao's native Taiwan and many other Asian countries. The duo envisions NailO to be used in situations where both your hands are occupied -- for instance, you can use it to scroll down a website page to check recipes while cooking. They also think it could be used to control other wearables, such as smart jewelry.

Apple's new range of MacBooks have something particularly new inside them: the Force Touch trackpad. No longer hinged like previous Apple laptops, the new touchpad houses a "Haptic Engine", outputting tactile feedback that will let you "feel" what's happening on-screen. iFixit's taken a closer look at how Apple did it, and while the trackpad is no longer hinged, there are now four spring mounts underneath. That haptic engine? A load of wires coiled around a magnetic core, which makes that all important vibrational feedback.

Not surprisingly, the main attraction of today's Apple event is the company's new smartwatch. But there's more, a lot more leading up to that announcement. As part of its new MacBook unveiling, Apple has revealed a newly designed trackpad, dubbed Force Touch. The redesigned trackpad comes with what Apple is calling a Taptic Engine, which produces tactile feedback that lets you "feel" what's happening on the screen, rather than just see it. It's "not a diving board," Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller said on stage about the trackpad, which is now pressure-sensitive and no longer hinged (as was the case on previous MacBooks).Slideshow-270860

At some point -- probably when the iPhone 5s came out -- fingerprint sensors became cool. Yes, they've been used on business laptops for years, but it's only recently that we've started to see them in stuff consumers would buy -- thingslikesmartphones and tablets. Now, it seems, we're coming full circle. Synaptics, the leading maker of laptop trackpads, just announced something called the SecurePad, a touchpad with a fingerprint sensor built into the upper-left corner. Unlike existing fingerprint scanners for laptops, which require users to swipe their fingers over the sensor, this one uses capacitive touch, similar to the fingerprint modules used in devices like the iPad mini 3 and Galaxy S5. The result should hopefully be a more reliable experience than you would have gotten on older-gen laptops, but as we've seen with newer products, even touch-based fingerprint scanners can be a mixed bag.

Those of us who try to bring the handy two- and three-finger trackpad gestures from a MacBook over to a PC laptop are usually treated to digitus interruptus. But during TechEd, Microsoft's Joe Belfiore said that Windows 10 will have new three finger gestures (not to be confused with salutes) for PC trackpads. Swiping up and down will bring up the "Task View" to minimize and restore active windows, while left and right gestures will switch between apps. Sound vaguely familiar? On a MacBook, three-fingered left and right swipes let you change virtual desktops and apps, while up and down gestures reveal OSX's Mission Control -- a decidedly similar feature to Task View.

An unresponsive trackpad can ruin a laptop. But how do you test for that without having access to ready-made equipment? If you're Google, you build your own machine. The company's Chrome OS team has created the Quickstep, a USB add-on that uses a laser to gauge trackpad latency on Chromebooks. Whenever you break the laser's beam with your finger, Quickstep measures the delay between that and the registered touch input. The device only looks for drag activity, but it's simple -- you can even build it yourself, if you're handy with electronics. Whether or not you're that interested, Google's project should take some of the frustration out of future Chrome hardware.

If you've had issues with your shiny new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro's keyboard and trackpad not working properly, Apple has your back. Cupertino has posted to its support forums that an update for the unresponsive inputs is en route, while also suggesting that closing the display for a full minute to reset the relevant hardware might be an interim solution. If that doesn't work, we'll let you know when the proper patch arrives.

Touch pads are nice for navigating with gestures, but what about when you need to scribble a signature or mark up a draft by hand? Well, Wacom has an option with its new stylus-friendly Bamboo Pad. The peripheral enables multitouch gestures alongside a pressure-sensitive Wacom stylus. Compatible with both Mac and Windows PCs, the add-ons can employ a wireless connection or be tethered via USB and come in one of four accent-hued options: grey, blue, green or purple (violet unit is wireless only). If you've already gotten cozy with a Bamboo Stylus feel, that input device will work alongside this new Bamboo Pad as well. Wired units will set you back $49 while the wireless model is priced at $70 with both arriving later this month. For now, you can snag a closer look at the goods in the gallery down below. Slideshow-83491

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 08:00:00 -040021|20715345http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/13/logitech-tk820-keyboard-and-trackpad/%3Futm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%26ncid%3Drss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/13/logitech-tk820-keyboard-and-trackpad/http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/13/logitech-tk820-keyboard-and-trackpad/%3Futm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%23commentsLogitech's no stranger to Windows-optimized keyboards and trackpads, and now it's ready to show off its latest offering: the TK820 -- a compact keyboard with an adjacent touch surface. The wireless kit shares some design language with the company's Tablet Keyboard, but sweetens the deal with a generously-sized touchpad with support for up to 13 gestures (configureable via Logitech's SetPoint software). Its slightly concave keycaps feature PerfectStroke tech, which promises consistent resistance from edge to edge. It may not be much more than a modernized K400, but if it suits your fancy, $100 is what it'll cost to get it under your mitts this month. Full press release after the break.

While Tobii has a peripheral that brings eye tracking to Windows PCs of all sorts, there's little doubt that an integrated approach would be more elegant. The company agrees: it's partnering with Synaptics on a concept Ultrabook (seen above) that combines both Gaze UI and Synaptics' pressure-sensitive ForcePad in a showcase of new input methods. The partners haven't said just what new tricks they'll demonstrate, if any, but it's clear that there won't be a size penalty when the concept is as slim as the laptops in stores today. Synaptics and Tobii plan to tour the PC throughout the industry during the summer and the fall, and they're no doubt hoping that a few vendors use the concept as inspiration.

The problem with laptop trackpads: they're usually not very good. But would turning the touchpad into a mouse solve the problem? Perhaps. That's what MSI seems to be attempting with its MouseBook concept. In essence, it's a laptop with a trackpad that can pop out and then be used as a standalone mouse. As you can see in the photo above, there's a release switch for removing the pad. Once it's out, you can move it across your desk as you would a mouse, as opposed to just using it as an external trackpad. It connects over Bluetooth and, as you'd expect, it recharges when it's inside the laptop. What we find most intriguing, perhaps, is the fact that when you remove the trackpad, a flat surface rises up to fill the space so that you're not left with a gaping hole in your palm rest. Since this is just an experiment at this point, MSI can't say if it will ever make its way into a real product. If you're curious, though, we've got a walkthrough video after the break, showing everything except, uh, how it works -- MSI still doesn't have a fully functioning unit to show off.Gallery-190243

ASUS was rather cryptic about this little peripheral with its "It'll move you" teaser, but now we get it. Dubbed the VivoMouse, ASUS claims this to be the world's first mouse-and-touchpad hybrid, and it's also wireless. One bonus feature here is that you can use it as a handheld remote with thumb control -- presumably the thumb stays on that circular trackpad with ASUS' iconic spin finish. We'll know more once we get our hands on this optical mouse in a moment, so keep an eye out for an update here.

Update: Hands-on gallery added below, and there's also a demo video after the break. The VivoMouse is actually slimmer than we expected, and when held in air, you can scroll pages by simply stroking along the lower edge of the circular trackpad. Other usual Windows 8 gestures are supported, including pinch-to-zoom, rotate, start menu toggle and sidebar toggle. The LED underneath the device uses blue light for better tracking as well. It's a pretty slick device, but hopefully it won't be too pricey, either.

After unveiling a handful of accessories designed for Windows 8, it's clear Logitech had some catching up to do on the Mac side. The company just announced two things, the Bluetooth Easy-Switch Keyboard and the Rechargeable Trackpad for Mac, and they're both more or less Apple-friendly versions of items that were announced for Windows back in October. Starting with the keyboard, it's basically the same as the Illuminated Bluetooth K810 keyboard, in that you can pair it with up to three Bluetooth-enabled devices and switch from one to the other by pressing a button. As the name suggests, it's also backlit, with sensors that turn on the lights when your hands are hovering, and lower the brightness when backlighting isn't necessary. The truth is, the K810 does all of this too and can pair with devices running any OS; it just has Windows 8-specific hotkeys, which you wouldn't need if you were a Mac user.

Moving on, the external touchpad is a Magic TrackPad competitor if ever we saw one, with support for all the multi-finger gestures you're used to making in OS X. Unlike the Magic Trackpad, though, it recharges over USB, whereas the Magic Trackpad runs on AAs. The keyboard and touchpad will be available in the US and Europe starting in January, with the keyboard priced at $100 and the trackpad retailing for $70, about the same price as the Magic Trackpad.Gallery-173036

In addition to trotting out a new Windows 8 Ultrabook and putting its Windows RT tablet up for pre-order, Dell just announced its first multi-touch display along with a wireless trackpad optimized for Win 8. Starting with the 23-inch S2340T, it has 1080p resolution and a 90-degree articulating stand that allows the display to lie nearly face-up. At the base, you'll find various inputs, including USB 3.0, HDMI, DisplayPort and Ethernet. There's also a webcam up top for those of you who plan on giving the new version of Skype a try. Meanwhile, the TP713 (pictured) is a Magic Trackpad-style touchpad designed to support Windows 8 gestures, such as swiping in from the left to toggle through applications. Both are up on Dell's site now, with the monitor priced at $650 and the trackpad going for $70. Both are expected to begin shipping this week.

It'll be another two weeks before Windows 8 PCs go on sale, but if you like, you can pick out your gesture-enabled peripherals now. Logitech just announced two wireless mice and an external trackpad, all optimized to support gestures in Windows 8. Starting with the mice, the Touch Mouse T620 has the same design as the M600 announced earlier this year, except it supports Win 8 gestures out of the box. (The M600 will get a software update allowing it to work the same way.) Similar to its predecessor, the T620's entire top surface is touch-enabled, which means you can do things like swipe the right side for the Charm Bar, or swipe from the left to rotate through open programs. You can also double tap with one finger to return to the Start Screen, and double tap with two fingers to show the desktop.

Moving on, the Zone Touch Mouse T400 has a touch strip that you can use to move up and down through pages, as well as scroll through the live tiles on the Start Screen. In a brilliant twist, though, the touch strip itself is comprised of two buttons, which you can use to toggle open apps or bring up the Start Screen, depending on which end you press. Finally, the Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650 is a Magic Trackpad-style touchpad with a spacious glass surface, which seemed impeccably responsive during our brief hands-on with it. Unlike the two mice, which run on AAs, the T650 has a rechargeable battery, which you can re-juice over USB.

All of these accessories use proprietary 2.4GHz wireless technology instead of Bluetooth, which means you'll need a free USB port to accommodate the accompanying transceiver. The dongle can pair with up to six Logitech peripherals at once, but that's a bummer if you also happen to own gear made by a Microsoft or HP. As you might have guessed, these are compatible with Windows PCs only, though you could use them with Win 7 if you so chose. Look for all three this month, with the Touchpad T650 priced $80, the Touch Mouse at $70 and the T400 at $50.

We spend an awful lot of time in laptop reviews railing against modern trackpads -- you know, the ones that mistake left clicks for right ones, or have a really stiff button mechanism. Well, it looks like relief might be on the way. Synaptics (easily the largest touchpad maker of 'em all) just spilled more details on ForcePad, a pressure-sensitive pad that responds differently depending on how much you bear down with your fingers. Before we get into possible use cases, though, it's important to clarify this: there is no mechanical touch button, meaning those stiff hinges we've been complaining about should be moot. Rather, if you want to "left click" or "right click" you'll need to push against the pad with your finger. When you do this, you'll get the littlest bit of tactile feedback, along with a sound effect. (You can turn those off.)

All told, the pad responds to up to 1,000 grams of pressure, and recognizes 64 different levels of sensitivity. As you can imagine, this feature is likely to come in handy with drawing apps, but Synaptics also imagines it being used in gaming. With scrolling, too, you can page through documents quickly or slowly, depending on how hard you press the trackpad. Additionally, the pad recognizes up to five fingers at once, and can tell when you're applying more pressure with one finger than another. For now, Synaptics won't name any future products that will use this technology, so don't put any stock in that Lenovo machine used in the first demo video below -- it's just a U300s retrofitted with a ForcePad. But, a company rep did say we'd start seeing ForcePad-enabled laptops at CES in January, so expect lots of notebook news then.Gallery-162613

When our eyes first landed upon the device from Gigabyte you see above, it took them a few seconds to work out exactly what they were looking at. There's a reason for that, though, as the Aivia Xenon -- as it is known -- lives a double life. By day, it's an ordinary PC mouse, with support for multi-touch gestures. By night (well, and day too, if you choose) it's a portable touchpad. The hybrid device offers 1000DPI resolution, can be used up to 10 meters away (for presentations etc.) and comes with software that lets you create custom gestures. If you have two birds, but only space for one stone, head down to the source link for more info.

Remember when Sergey Brin was on The Gavin Newsom Show showing off Project Glass' right-sided physical trackpad? Today, that element of the tech was given the official thumbs-up by the US patent and trademark office. Legally-trained minds in the audience concerned about the appearance forming prior art, take it easy -- the patent was filed five days before the Google chief took to basic cable to demonstrate his pet project to the current Lt. Governor of California.

The idea of creating a full-fledged laptop companion to a smartphone isn't new -- just ask the former Palm team -- but rarely has it come across as so pretty. Clamcase's upcoming Clambook, while it has more than a slight hint of MacBook Air about it, is really meant as a large canvas of sight and sound for an Android phone or iPhone. Although the Clambook can at least be used as a big, 16:9 ratio display for an iPhone, the emphasis is clearly on more Google-inclined users that can use an MHL port: the one cable provides audio, video, power, an Android 4.0-native keyboard and a multi-touch trackpad. More recent Motorola phone owners might get the most out of it, since Webtop's full-size Firefox browser and windowed interface will kick in without needing one of Motorola's proprietary docks. We're still waiting on many basic details, like exact device support and the all-important matter of pricing, but the Clamcase should be ready for supersized Real Racing sessions by the holidays.

The FCC gave us a clue that Vizio's first-ever PCs would be shipping soon, and the company is now spilling a few beans more directly. Although the official statement is still short on many of the details we've been hoping to know, Vizio is promising that the line will launch before June is up. As a refresher, the normally home theater-focused company is planning to go all-out despite being the new kid on the block, going with a trio of mid-size laptops as well as two sizes of all-in-one desktops that rely on Magic Trackpad-like input to draw attention. Mum's the word on whether or not the 10-inch tablet will be part of the June arrivals, although there's unconfirmed talk that Walmart will carry at least some of the lineup and trigger some jealousy in the 2012 Vizio TVs across the aisle.Gallery-156696

Sergey Brin has appeared on The Gavin Newsom Show on Current TV to drop a few more enticing hints about Project Glass. While showing the presenter a picture he'd taken with the AR glasses, he revealed that the prototype is controlled with a trackpad running down the right* arm. He also talked about the device's genesis in Goggle's (pun intended) X Lab, which he described as an "advanced skunkworks" where "far-out projects" are developed -- it's also the department that occupies most of his time. While the units he and his colleagues have been wearing are very rough prototypes, the Google co-founder shared his private hope that the tech will make its way to general release next year. You can catch the extract in full in the video after the break.

*Right for the wearer, left for the observer. It depends entirely on your perspective.

The wait for Vizio's first PC range we first saw at CES may feel like an eternity, but our friends at the FCC have made that wait a little shorter with a pair of approvals. Both the wireless keyboard and its equally cable-free trackpad companion have been given clearance to pair up with your future all-in-one desktop when it reaches the US. There's even a clue as to the release timing baked into the filings: Vizio wants manuals and photos for both kept secret until July 31st to protect the "actual marketing of the device," suggesting we might have our designer PCs in hand by then. You're looking at the keyboard above, and you can read through for a view of the trackpad.

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Wed, 02 May 2012 10:26:00 -040021|20228565http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/08/mobee-magic-feet-and-power-bar-inductive-charging/%3Futm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%26ncid%3Drss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/08/mobee-magic-feet-and-power-bar-inductive-charging/http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/08/mobee-magic-feet-and-power-bar-inductive-charging/%3Futm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%23comments
Mobee's no stranger to the world of Mac peripherals these days, and you would've already come across the brand if swapping batteries is too much for you. Following its Magic Charger (for Apple's Magic Mouse) and Magic Bar (for Apple's wireless keyboard and Magic Trackpad), at this year's CES the company's decided to dish out an all-on-one charging station that features a second inductive charging pad plus four USB ports. But of course, there's a trade-off for this big daddy: in addition to the USB connection to your Mac, the Magic Feet also requires an AC adapter. However, given that each device has a battery life of up to 10 days only, this external power will actually come in handy for night time charging.

Alternatively, if you're not a fan of clogging up desk space with a charging station, then you can consider Mobee's Power Bar. Unlike its inductive-charging counterpart, this stick simply adds a 10-day battery and a micro-USB port to the Magic Trackpad, thus letting you plug-and-charge when needed. Oddly enough, Mobee doesn't say whether the Power Bar is also compatible with Apple's wireless keyboard, but the response we received was that it isn't a matter of technical limitation; but rather, it's simply that the company believes the Magic Bar is the better solution for owners of the wireless keyboard. Well, we'll let you be the judge.

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Sun, 08 Jan 2012 13:22:00 -050021|20141700http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/06/vizio-desktop-laptop-pc/%3Futm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%26ncid%3Drss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/06/vizio-desktop-laptop-pc/http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/06/vizio-desktop-laptop-pc/%3Futm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%23comments
Just when it seems like everyone is running away from the PC business, well known HDTV company Vizio has apparently decided that after dabbling in lightbulbs, it's a great time to get in. Chief Technology Officer Matt McRae revealed in an interview with Bloomberg that it will introduce two desktop all-in-ones and three notebooks at CES next week, the former which probably explain that sleek display it flashed during its 2012 Rose Bowl advertisement. As usual, the focus is on value pricing, as he promised they would arrive by June (we're still waiting on the phone from last year, we'll chalk up the missing high end TVs to Google TV delays for now) at prices that "don't seem possible". The desktops are expected to be 24- and 27-inch models, while the laptops are a standard 15-incher, along with 14- and 15-inch ultralight models. We'll get our hands on the new PCs as quickly as possible to see if they match up to the ultrabook competition, and if Vizio can finally provide a PC AIO we're truly interested in.

Update: Check the gallery below for actual pictures of all the models in the lineup (24-inch All-in-One PC, 27-inch All-in-One PC, 14-inch Thin + Light Notebook, 15.6-inch Thin + Light Notebook, 15.6-inch Notebook ), while we don't know how they'll run from here, they certainly have sleek -- and familiar -- designs. Also, if you think Vizio's forgotten its roots, think again (peep the wired subwoofer and remote idling by that 27-incher). Just like its Tablet featured universal IR control built-in, the tie-ins are getting deeper, according to comments in the Wall Street Journal there are plans to allow for second screen information on a laptop or PC on the same network as one of its smart TVs.
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